A senior MP has addressed the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister asking them to revoke over 280 arms licenses allowing British weapons to be sold to the Russian government.

The chairman of Arms Exports Controls Committee, Sir John Stanley, said details in an arms export report showed that UK firms were still selling missile parts to Russia, despite the UK Government’s promise to cancel all arms-related contracts to Moscow.

Concerns over the licenses have risen since the recent Malaysia Airlines tragedy and continuing conflict in Ukraine.

In the House of Commons on Monday, July 21, David Cameron said: “On the issue of defence equipment we already unilaterally decided that it would not sell further arms to Russia.

“Future military sales from any country in Europe should not be going ahead.”

On March 18, in a debate about the Ukraine crisis the then former Defence Secretary, William Hague, stated: “the UK will now, with immediate effect, suspend all extant licences and application processing for licences for direct export to Russia for military and dual-use items destined for Russian armed forces.”

However, as of May, there were 285 outstanding licenses - worth more than £130 million - allowing UK companies to export arms to Russia or another country which may sell weapons to Russia.

“On the issue of defence equipment we already unilaterally decided that it would not sell further arms to Russia" - David Cameron

To date, only 34 of the 285 contracts have been cancelled and the list of arms that UK companies still sell to Russia includes sniper rifles, assault rifles, communications equipment, small arms ammunition and night sights.

In a letter addressed to Phillip Hammond and David Cameron, Sir John asks “whether the Government will be suspending, revoking or re-issuing without Russia all or some of the remaining extant arms export licenses to Russia.”

He also enquires “whether the Government will be suspending the processing of all applications for arms export licences to Russia regardless of whether the military or dual-use items concerned could be or are being deployed against Ukraine.”

THE CAEC has now launched an official inquiry into arms exports from the UK.

Its task throughout the year is to scrutinize the UK Government’s export controls procedures and legislation, individual arms export licence decisions, arms export policies, and the UK’s role in international arms control agreements.